Colombia tax office supports proposal for land reform

The future of Colombia Reports is under threat. The country's largest independent news website needs your help. Please become our patron.

The future of Colombia Reports is under threat. The country's largest independent news website needs your help. Please become our patron.

Colombia’s tax office has threw its weight behind land reform Thursday by supporting proposals for taxes on the country’s nearly 40 million acres of unproductive land.

The director of the Dian, Juan Ricardo Ortega, said “there are at least 70 billion pesos [approximately $37 billion] in land assets that is money saved or hidden where it is not generating production or employment,” Caracol Radio reported.

He added, “those who are keeping the land without producing anything have to pay a cost.”

According to the Dian, only 17 million acres of Colombia’s 57 million acres of productive land are currently fully productive.